footing for the often-troubled , longstanding issues

 Ultimately, reports Munk, Dertu was abandoned by the Millennium Villages Project while Ruhiira is today lauded as one of the project’s most successful villages. “There is no question the lives of people in Ruhiira have been improved,” Munk told me. “I’ve seen it.” But she is dubious about what that means — other than the fact that if you pump millions of dollars into an isolated African village, the villagers’ lives will be better. (Sachs’s defenders say that most of her reporting was done before the project really found its footing.)


Rivals Seek New Balance

Obama and Chinese President Hu, seeking a steadier footing for the often-troubled U.S.-China relationship, played up common interests—and soft-pedaled longstanding issues that divide them.





Intel Tries to Secure Its Footing Beyond PCs

 footing

noun

• 1 (one's footing) a secure grip with one’s feet:he suddenly lost his footing

• 2 [in singular] the basis on which something is established or operates:attempts to establish the shop on a firm financial footing
• the position or status of a person in relation to others:the suppliers are on an equal footing with the buyers

3 (usually footings) the foundations of a wall, usually with a course of brickwork wider than the base of the wall.